When you need hiding, a community comes to the rescue

Synopsis

Life doesn’t always go to plan . . .

After a messy breakup and a nightmare boss, Kate swaps the chaos of London for the calm of Starry Cove—the charming seaside village she loved as a child. She arrives hoping for peace and a fresh start. But life has other plans: Kate soon discovers she’s going to be a mother.

As she navigates small-town life (and morning sickness), Kate finds friendship in the ‘coastal girls’—a warm, welcoming group who help her land a job with Piers, the reclusive owner of the local manor. He’s guarded, grumpy and impossible to read… but there’s more to him than meets the eye.

As feelings grow and secrets slowly come to light, Kate must decide if she’s ready to open her heart again—and whether Starry Cove could be the home she’s been searching for all along.

My review

Just on the day that she wants to end the relationship with her mentally abusive and just nasty boyfriend, Kate discovers that he did the biggest dirt on her. Feeling that she has no other options, Kate decides to hide away in the place that she loved as a child, Starry Cove. She is ready to make a fresh start, even after she discovers that she is pregnant. While all she wants the most is to stay under the radar, she finds herself quickly befriending ‘the coastal girls’, who are ready to help  her out in any way they can, even if she isn’t coming clean about her real identity. She even manages to get a job, even if it is working for grumpy and reclusive Piers, but she slowly realizes that there is more than meets the eye. But no matter how much the relationships evolves, Kate is always keeping an eye open, out of fear that the past will catch up on her. And will the lovely people, Piers included, believe her and be able to forgive her lies? Or will everything and everyone she has started to love, be taken away from her?

There is one thing when a relationship has reached its end, as it may be part of its course. But it is a complete different thing when your partner is a complete doucheb*g, cheating on you, and even tries to put the blame of his illegal actions in your hands. That is just despicable behaviour…

So when we meet Kate, I was feeling all kind of different emotions. I was furious for what she has been through, I was proud when I realized that she is taking back her life in her own hands, to be even totally flabbergasted to learn what her *sshole boyfriend is trying to do to her…

On one hand, I could understand why Kate wants to flee the scene, but on the other hand, I also knew that it wouldn’t be the escape and fresh start Kate is looking for. Not only because it is just a matter of time before the past will catch up with you, but also that is it truly a good idea to run away when there may be charges against you?

However, if Kate didn’t flee, would we have this heart – warming story? I don’t think so…

It was a bit funny reading how all that Kate wants, is to hide away, even in a place that isn’t completely fit for someone staying in, yet what she gets is a whole community wanting to help her in every possible way.

Of course Starry Cove doesn’t has stupid inhabitants, and they quickly realize that Kate, or rather Sophie – as they know her – has some secrets to keep. Yet that doesn’t stop them from befriending her, giving her jobs and making her feel welcome and even a real member of their community.

What else I found funny, was reading how her first few meetings are with the grumpiest of men. And it is not a secret that it will turn out to be Piers, her new employer! Yes, I laughed at the uncomfortable situation Kate finds herself in, but I was also proud of her professionalism, and readiness to put the past behind her (at least what Piers concerned, not her past that she escaped from).

It was lovely also to read how Kate is embracing her pregnancy, how she is ready to be the best possible mother she can be. She wants to protect her unborn baby against the evils of the world, including its own father…

Obviously there is also a love interest in this book, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know who it will be. But while I liked reading how that was evolving, and ready to discover whatever the big secret is, it didn’t feel like that is what the author tries to tell us.

Because this truly felt like a very important journey Kate has to go through. At the start of the book, she is at her lowest. And slowly, by fleeing the toxic scene, Kate starts to rebuild a new life. A new life where she feels that there are people she can rely on. That there are people that are ready and willing to help her out, to forgive her for the white lies she has been telling. And who are ready to help her build her life back together, bit by bit.

And that is the force, the strength of this book, by showing us that strength in character can be rebuild, trust can be rebuild, and that better things, wonderful things, can come your way.